Rankine cycle apparatus

ABSTRACT

Rankine cycle apparatus, having closed working medium circulation circuitry, includes a collection mechanism for collecting a working medium leaked or discharged out of the circulation circuitry. The working medium collected via the collection mechanism is stored in an open tank, and the thus-stored liquid-phase working medium is returned to a condenser by means of a return pump.

This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 2003-344492 and 2003-377363 filed in Japan on Oct. 2, 2003 and Nov. 6, 2003, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to Rankine cycle apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved Rankine cycle apparatus which is used, for example, as a vehicle-mounted apparatus for converting exhaust heat energy of a vehicle-mounted engine into mechanical energy, and which includes a working medium supply system to appropriately deal with leakage of a working medium.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Rankine cycle apparatus have been known as systems for converting heat energy into mechanical work. The Rankine cycle apparatus include a structure for circulating water as a working medium, in the liquid and gaseous phases within a sealed piping system forming a circulation system in the apparatus. Generally, the Rankine cycle apparatus include a water supplying pump unit, an evaporator, an expander, a condenser, and pipes connecting between these components to provide circulation circuitry.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a general setup of a conventionally-known Rankine cycle apparatus (e.g., vehicle-mounted Rankine cycle apparatus) and certain details of a condenser employed in the Rankine cycle apparatus. The Rankine cycle apparatus of FIG. 14 includes a water supplying pump unit 110, an evaporator 111, an expander 107, and the condenser 100. These components 110, 111, 107 and 100 are connected via pipes 108 and 115, to provide circulation circuitry in the apparatus.

Water (liquid-phase working medium), which is supplied, a predetermined amount per minute, by the water supplying pump unit 110 via the pipe 115, is imparted with heat by the evaporator 111 to turn into water vapor (gaseous-phase working medium). The vapor is delivered through the next pipe 115 to the expander 107 that expands the water vapor. Mechanical device (not shown) is driven through the vapor expansion by the expander 107 so as to perform desired mechanical work.

Then, the expanded water vapor is delivered through the pipe 108 to the condenser 100, where the vapor is converted from the vapor phase back to the water phase. After that, the water is returned through the pipe 115 to the water supplying pump unit 110, from which the water is supplied again for repetition of the above actions. The evaporator 111 is constructed to receive heat from an exhaust pipe extending from the exhaust port of the engine of the vehicle. Among various literatures and documents showing structural examples of the Rankine cycle apparatus is Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2002-115504.

The following paragraphs detail a structure and behavior of the condenser 100 in the conventional vehicle-mounted Rankine cycle apparatus shown in FIG. 14.

The condenser 100 includes a vapor introducing chamber 101, a water collecting chamber 102, and a multiplicity of cooling pipes 103 vertically interconnecting the two chambers 101 and 102. In the figure, only one of the cooling pipes 103 is shown in an exaggerative manner. Substantial upper half of the interior of each of the cooling pipes 103 is a vapor (gaseous-phase) portion 104, while a substantial lower half of the interior of the cooling pipe 103 is a water (liquid-phase) portion 105. In the vapor portion 104, most of the working medium introduced via the vapor introducing chamber 101 to the cooling pipe 103 is in the gaseous phase, while, in the water portion 105, most of the working medium flowing through the cooling pipe 103 is kept in the liquid (condensed water) phase. Boundary between the vapor 104 and the water 105 (i.e., gas-liquid interface) is a liquid level position 112.

One cooling fan 106 is disposed behind the cooling pipes 103 (to the right of the cooling pipes 103 in FIG. 14). The cooling fan 106 is surrounded by a cylindrical shroud 106 a. Normally, operation of the cooling fan 106 is controlled by an electronic control unit on the basis of a water temperature at an outlet port of the condenser 100. The single cooling fan 106 sends air to the entire region, from top to bottom, of all of the cooling pipes 103 to simultaneously cool the cooling pipes 103.

The condenser 100 operates as follows during operation of the Rankine cycle apparatus. Water vapor of a relatively low temperature, discharged from the expander 107 with a reduced temperature and pressure, is sent into the vapor introducing chamber 101 of the condenser 100 via the low-pressure vapor pipe 108 and then directed into the cooling pipes 103. Cooling air 109 drawn into the cooling fan 106 is sent to the condenser 100.

Strong cooling air is applied by the cooling fan 106 to the upstream vapor portion 104 of the condenser 100, i.e. a portion of each of the cooling pipes 103 where a mixture of the vapor and water exists, and thus latent heat emitted when the vapor liquefies can be recovered effectively by the cooling air. Cooling air is also applied by the cooling fan 106 to the downstream water portion 105 of the condenser 100, i.e. a portion of each of the cooling pipes 103 where substantially only the water exists. Water condensed within the cooling pipes 103 of the condenser 100, is collected into the water collecting chamber 102 and then supplied by the water supplying pump unit 110 to the evaporator 111 in a pressurized condition as noted above.

In FIG. 14, reference numeral 116 represents a surface area of a condensing heat transmission portion, and 117 represents a surface area of a heat transmission portion of the condensed water. The surface areas 116 and 117 of the heat transmission portions and the liquid level position 112 have the following relationship.

The conventional Rankine cycle apparatus 100 inherently has the characteristic that the liquid fluid position 112 varies. Namely, because the engine output varies in response to traveling start/stop and transient traveling velocity variation of the vehicle, the amount of water supply to the evaporator 111 also varies, in response to which the liquid level position 112 within the condenser 100 varies. Namely, in the condenser 100, the liquid level position 112 rises when the amount of the vapor flowing into the condenser 100 (i.e., inflow amount of the vapor) is greater than the amount of the condensed water discharged from the condenser 100 (i.e., discharge amount of the condensed water), but lowers when the inflow amount of the vapor is smaller than the discharge amount of the condensed water. In this way, the vapor-occupied portion (104) in the cooling pipes 103 of the condenser 100 increases or decreases. Because the condensed water (in the portion 105) is discharged from the water supplying pump unit 110 subjected to predetermined flow rate control, a pressure from an outlet port 113 of the expander 107 to an inlet port 114 of the water supplying pump unit 110 is determined by a pressure within the condenser 100. The pressure within the condenser 100 is determined by an amount of condensing heat exchange caused by cooling of the vapor portion (104) of the condenser, and the amount of condensing heat exchange is determined by a flow rate of the medium to be cooled and a surface area of the condensing heat transmission portion 116. Thus, if the portion occupied with the vapor increases or decreases due to variation (rise or fall) of the liquid level position 112, the surface area 116 of the condensing heat transmission portion increases or decreases and so the pressure within the condenser 100 and the flow rate of the medium to be cooled do not uniformly correspond to each other any longer.

Similarly, the temperature of the condensed water at the outlet port of the condenser 100 is determined by an amount of heat exchange caused by cooling of the water portion (105) of the condenser, and the amount of the heat exchange of the condensed water is determined by the flow rate of the medium to be cooled and a surface area 117 of a heat transmission portion of the condensed water. Thus, if the portion occupied with the condensed water (105) increases or decreases due to variation (rise or fall) of the liquid level position 112, the surface area 117 of the heat transmission of the condensed water portion increases or decreases and so the temperature of the condensed water and the flow rate of the medium to be cooled do not uniformly correspond to each other any longer.

Fundamentally, each of the known Rankine cycle apparatus is constructed on the assumption that it is operated in a closed circulation system. Namely, the circulation system, through which the working medium circulates, is ideally a hermetically-sealed closed system. Thus, it is desirable that the working medium circulate in the circulation system without leakage from the circulation system. In reality, however, the working medium tends to be discharged out of the system for the following two reasons. First, pressurization is effected separately between the water supplying pump unit 110, the evaporator 111 and the expander 107, performing primary functions of the Rankine cycle apparatus, during startup at low temperature, which results in a loss of pressure balance between these components. Thus, vapor would leak more or less through sealed portions of the expander 107 etc. Second, the working medium having completed its predetermined work in the expander 107 is converted from vapor into water and then delivered from the condenser 100 to a water tank in preparation for a next work cycle. However, the water is sometimes intentionally discharged out of the circulation system in order to keep a predetermined liquid level position of the working medium within the condenser 100.

Actually, in the Rankine cycle apparatus, it is necessary to maintain a constant total amount of the working medium in the entire circulation system. For this purpose, the working medium, let out of the circulation system due to the leakage and intentional discharge, has to be returned or re-delivered into the circulation system in one way or another in order to constantly secure the predetermined total amount of the working medium.

Two major ways are conceivable to return the leaked working medium to the circulation system. One of the ways is to return the leaked working medium from each of a plurality of leak circuits directly to a main circuit. The other way is to temporarily receive, in an open tank, the leaked working medium from the plurality of leak circuits and then return the temporarily-received leaked working medium or water to the main circuit. With the first-mentioned way of returning the leaked working medium to the circulation system, it is necessary to insert a separate pump in each of the plurality of leak circuits and control operation of the pumps relatively precisely in accordance with a leaked amount of the working medium, so that the system would unavoidably become complicated in structure. With the second-mentioned way, on the other hand, there is a need to automatically return the temporarily-received water from the open tank to the circulation system in such a manner as to compensate for the leaked amount, and thus some measurement means and control means would be required.

Alternatively, the leaked working medium may be returned manually, in which case the system structure can be simplified significantly. However, when the vehicle having the Rankine cycle apparatus mounted thereon is traveling in particular, it is extremely difficult to manually replenish the working medium during driving operation. Further, for replenishment during travel of the vehicle, it is necessary to secure an amount of the working medium which is equal to the amount of the working medium leaked out of the circulation system. To cover a sufficient traveling distance (or time), a relatively great tank is required although the exact necessary size of the tank depends on driving conditions etc. Therefore, the Rankine cycle apparatus tends to have an increased overall size and hence lack practicality or utility.

The conventionally-known Rankine cycle apparatus generally have the following three challenges of: (1) allowing the working medium, leaked out of the circulation system, to be automatically returned to the circulation system; (2) being constructible into a sufficiently-small size for mounting on a vehicle; and (3) being capable of readily achieving optimization means, without using complicated control etc., for mounting on a vehicle.

JP-A-2003-97222 discloses a technique for use with a Rankine cycle apparatus, where a mixture of expander-lubricating oil and water is supplied to a coalescer-based water separation section for separation of the water from the oil. Here, the oil separated from the water is returned to the expander, while the separated water is returned to circulation circuitry. However, the disclosed Rankine cycle apparatus does not have the function of maintaining a predetermined liquid level position within the condenser as discussed above, and so it is not constructed to intentionally discharge water out of the circulation system and has no open tank for accumulating or storing the thus-discharged water. Therefore, the technique disclosed in the 2003-97222 publication can not be applied as-is to Rankine cycle apparatus provided with an open tank for storing water discharged out of the circulation system. Examples of conventionally-known systems, which are constructed like working medium supply systems for automatically replenishing leaked working medium in Rankine cycle apparatus, include engine cooling systems of automotive vehicles, cooling-medium supply systems of car air-conditioner apparatus, condensing and resting or out-of-operation facilities of steam power plants, etc.

The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing prior art problems and challenges.

Namely, the Rankine cycle apparatus, where the working-medium circulation system is generally constructed as a closed system, cause the working medium to circulate while maintaining a predetermined total amount of the working medium in the entire circulation system. When leakage of the working medium occurs in the circulation system, there arises a need to automatically replenish or re-supply the leaked amount of the working medium to the circulation system, in order to maintain the predetermined total amount and thereby prevent the operation of the Rankine cycle apparatus from being adversely influenced by a decrease in the amount of the working medium within the entire circulation system. Further, in the Rankine cycle apparatus constructed to maintain a predetermined fluid level position within the condenser, arrangements have to be made for replenishing the leaked amount of the working medium at appropriate timing and in a precisely- and accurately-controlled amount. Further, a working-medium replenishing supply system employed in the Rankine cycle apparatus has to be of a simple and small-size structure.

Therefore, there has been a demand for a novel Rankine cycle apparatus which includes a working-medium supply system capable of replenishing the working medium, let out from the circulation system, at appropriate timing and in a precisely- and accurately-controlled amount.

Further, there has been a demand for a novel technique which is suitably applicable to the Rankine cycle apparatus constructed to maintain a predetermined fluid level position within the condenser, and which is capable of replenishing the working medium, discharged out of the circulation system, at appropriate timing and in a precisely- and accurately-controlled amount so as to reliably maintain the predetermined fluid level position.

Furthermore, there has been a demand for a novel Rankine cycle apparatus for mounting on a vehicle, such as an automotive vehicle, which allows the working medium, let out of the circulation system, to be automatically returned to the circulation system, and which has a simplified structure and reduced size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a Rankine cycle apparatus including a closed working medium circulation circuit, which comprises: an evaporator for heating and thereby converting a pressurized liquid-phase working medium into a gaseous-phase working medium; an expander for converting heat energy of the gaseous-phase working medium into mechanical energy; a condenser for cooling and thereby converting the gaseous-phase working medium, discharged from an outlet port of the expander, back to the liquid phase; a sealed tank for storing the liquid-phase working medium discharged by the condenser; a supply pump for supplying the liquid-phase working medium, in a re-pressurized condition, from the sealed tank to the evaporator; a collection section for collecting a portion of the working medium having exited out of the working medium circulation circuit; an open tank for storing the portion of the working medium supplied from the collection section; and a liquid-phase working medium returning section for returning the liquid-phase working medium, stored in the open tank, to any point of a section of the working medium circulation circuit which extends from the outlet portion of the expander, via the condenser, to a suction port of the supply pump.

For example, when a portion of the circulating working medium has leaked out of the closed working medium circulation circuit in the Rankine cycle apparatus, the leaked working medium is collected and stored in the open tank. Predetermined total amount of the circulating working medium has to be constantly maintained in the entire circulation circuit. For this purpose, in the Rankine cycle apparatus of the invention, an appropriate amount of the liquid-phase working medium (water) stored in the open tank is returned or re-delivered, at appropriate timing, to any point of the section (i.e., section having a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure) of the circulation circuit extending from the outlet port of the expander, via the condenser, to the suction portion of the supply pump.

In this way, the present invention can provide a novel automatic working medium supply system which is capable of collecting and storing the working medium leaked or discharged out of the closed working medium circulation circuit and also re-supplying a deficient amount of the working medium to the circulation circuit. Further, the automatic working medium supply system provided by the invention can be of a significantly simplified structure and reduced size.

In the Rankine cycle apparatus of the present invention, the open (i.e., open-to-atmospheric-air) tank is provided separately from the conventional sealed tank in the working medium circulation circuit, and a portion of the working medium, let out from the circulation circuit, is collected and stored in the open tank in the liquid-phase state. Further, a deficient amount of the working medium is returned or re-supplied to any point of the section (i.e., section having a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure) of the circulation circuit extending from the outlet port of the expander, via the condenser, to the suction portion of the supply pump, so that the deficient working medium can be replenished into the closed circulation circuit. In this way, the present invention can appropriately reduce a pressure difference between the open-to-atmospheric-air tank and the circulation circuit, to thereby allow the returned working medium to circulate with increased ease and smoothness. Further, the present invention can make appropriate adjustment (i.e., produce an appropriate buffer effect) on variation in the flow amount (flow rate) of the working medium within the closed circulation circuit, and allows the leaked or discharged working medium to be re-circulated through the circulation circuit easily and smoothly.

The present invention can appropriately adjust (i.e., produce an appropriate buffer effect on) variation in the flow amount of the working medium within the closed circulation circuit of the Rankine cycle apparatus, so as to appropriately absorb or accommodate the flow amount variation. Specifically, in the present invention, an optimized amount of the working medium can be circulated, on the basis of the fluid level position of the liquid-phase working medium within the condenser, by means of the supply amount, and variation in the heat transmitting areas of the gaseous-phase and liquid-phase portions of the condenser can be reduced.

Preferably, the Rankine cycle apparatus of the present invention further comprises a liquid-phase working medium discharge section attached to the condenser and controlled to allow the liquid level position of the liquid-phase working medium within the condenser to be kept at a predetermined level position (i.e., height or vertical position), and, in accordance with variation in the liquid level position within the condenser, the liquid-phase working medium discharge section discharges the liquid-phase working medium out of the working medium circulation circuit so that the discharged liquid-phase working medium is given to the collection section. Therefore, in the Rankine cycle apparatus of the invention, which is constructed such that the liquid level position of the liquid-phase working medium within the condenser is kept at a predetermined level position, a leakage-handling working medium supply system can be incorporated in an appropriate manner.

Preferably, when the liquid level position is below the predetermined level position in the Rankine cycle apparatus of the invention, the liquid-phase working medium stored in the open tank is returned to the working medium circulation circuit, so as to bring the liquid level position within the condenser to the predetermined level position. Also, when the liquid level position is above the predetermined level position, the liquid-phase working medium within the condenser is discharged from the condenser by the liquid-phase working medium discharge section so that the discharged working medium is supplied to the open tank via the collection section, so as to bring the liquid level position within the condenser to the predetermined level position.

Namely, in the Rankine cycle apparatus of the present invention, where the liquid level position of the liquid-phase working medium within the condenser is constantly controlled to be at the predetermined level position, the condensed water is discharged when the liquid level position within the condenser has risen above the predetermined level position, but a deficient amount of the working medium is replenished or re-supplied when the liquid level position within the condenser has fallen below the predetermined level position. Such arrangements can reduce variation in the respective heat transmitting areas of the gaseous-phase and liquid-phase portions of the condenser, so that the necessary cooling can be performed without regard to the variation in the heat transmitting areas. Further, the inventive arrangements can effectively reduce unwanted cavitations in the supply pump and consumption of extra heat energy for re-heating by the evaporator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a general system setup of a Rankine cycle apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating an inner structure of a water supplying pump unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of example layout of various components of the Rankine cycle apparatus of FIG. 1 when mounted on a vehicle;

FIG. 4 is a view showing another example of the layout of the various components of the Rankine cycle apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a system setup of the Rankine cycle apparatus, which particularly shows flows of a working medium in the apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an inner structure of a condenser and other components peripheral to the condenser in the Rankine cycle apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a structure of an air vent in its closed position;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the air vent taken along the A—A lines of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the air vent in an opened position;

FIG. 10 is a graph showing respective saturation curves of a temperature-sensitive liquid and water;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are a view and table explanatory of details of liquid level position settings;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing an operational sequence of liquid level position control;

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing variation in a traveling velocity of the vehicle having the Rankine cycle apparatus mounted thereon, variation in an engine output, variation in an amount of water supply to an evaporator and variation in the liquid level position within the condenser; and

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a vehicle-mounted Rankine cycle apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

First, a description will be made about an example general setup of a Rankine cycle apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, with reference to FIG. 1.

The Rankine cycle apparatus 10 includes an evaporator 11, an expander 12, a condenser 13, and a water supplying pump unit 14 provided with a supply pump.

The evaporator 11 and the expander 12 are interconnected via a pipe 15, and the expander 12 and the condenser 13 are interconnected via a pipe 16. Further, the condenser 13 and the water supplying pump unit 14 are interconnected via a pipe 17, and the water supplying pump unit 14 and the evaporator 11 are interconnected via a pipe 18. With such a piping structure, there is formed closed circulation circuitry (circulation system) through which a working medium is circulated within the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 in the gaseous or liquid phase. The working medium in the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 is in water (liquid) and water vapor (gaseous) phases.

The circulation circuitry of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 has a circulating structure hermetically sealed from the outside, which allows water or vapor to circulate therethrough.

In the circulation circuitry of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, the water (liquid-phase medium) travels from a liquid level position, indicated by a broken line P1, within the condenser 13, through the water supplying pump unit 14, to the evaporator 11. In FIG. 1, the pipes 17 and 18, through which the water travels, are indicated by thick solid lines. The vapor (gaseous-phase medium) travels from the evaporator 11, through the expander 12, to the liquid level position P1 within the condenser 13. The pipes 15 and 16, through which the vapor travels, are indicated by thick broken lines.

The Rankine cycle apparatus 10 is constructed to phase-convert water into water vapor using heat from a heat source, and produce mechanical work using expansion of the water vapor. The evaporator 11 is a mechanism for converting water into vapor.

As will be later described in detail, the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 is constructed as a vehicle-mounted apparatus suitable for mounting on an automotive vehicle. For that purpose, the evaporator 11 uses heat of exhaust gas from the vehicle engine as the heat source. Namely, the evaporator 11 uses heat of the exhaust gas, flowing through an exhaust pipe 45 of the engine (internal combustion engine), to heat and superheat water supplied from the water supplying pump unit 14, so as to produce high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor. The high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor produced by the evaporator 11 is supplied to the expander 12.

Needless to say, the evaporator 11 may use higher-temperature exhaust gas from an exhaust port, exhaust manifold (not shown) or the like located downstream of an exhaust valve of the engine, rather than from the exhaust pipe 45.

The expander 12 has an output shaft 12 a connected to the rotor (not shown) or the like of a motor/generator (M/G) 19 so as to allow the motor/generator (M/G) 19 to operate as a generator. The expander 12 is constructed to expand the high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor supplied from the evaporator 11 and rotates the output shaft 12 a through the expansion of the vapor. The rotation of the output shaft 12 a rotates the rotor of the motor/generator 19 to cause the motor/generator 19 to make predetermined mechanical rotation or perform predetermined power generation operation. The output shaft 12 a of the expander 12 is also connected to a hydraulic pump 25 to drive the pump 25.

As noted above, the expander 12 produces mechanical work through the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor supplied from the evaporator 11 via the pipe 15 and thereby drives various loads, such as the motor/generator 19 and hydraulic pump 25. The vapor 12 discharged from the evaporator 12 decreases in temperature and pressure and is delivered via the pipe 16 to the condenser 13 with the decreased temperature and pressure.

The condenser 13 cools and liquefies the vapor delivered from the evaporator 12. Water produced through the liquefaction by the condenser 13 (i.e., condensed water) is returned via the pipe 17 to the water supplying pump unit 14.

High-pressure pump 44 of the water supplying pump unit 14 pressurizes the water liquefied by the condenser 13 (i.e., condensed water from the condenser 13) and re-supplies or replenishes the pressurized condensed water to the evaporator 11.

The Rankine cycle apparatus 10 having the above-described general system setup includes the following as other relevant components.

In a portion of the pipe 18 near the evaporator 11, there is provided a pressure relief valve 22 for adjusting a pressure within the pipe 18 in response to pressure variation within the pipe 18.

Within a casing 21 of the expander 12, there is provided a breather (separator) 23 for returning leaked water vapor to the pipe 16. Further, within the casing 21, an oil pan 24 is disposed under the expander 12. Oil built up in the oil pan 24 with water mixed therein is delivered by the hydraulic pump 25 to an oil coalescer 27 via a pipe 26.

The oil and water are separated from each other by the oil coalescer 27, and the separated water is stored in a lower portion of an oil tank 28 due to a difference in specific gravity. Valve mechanism 30 operating on the basis of a float sensor 29 is mounted in the oil tank 28.

The oil separated from the water by the oil coalescer 27 and stored in an upper portion of the oil tank 28 is supplied, through a pipe 31, to various sections of the expander 12 by way of an oil path (not shown) formed in the output shaft 12 a.

The water stored or accumulated in the lower portion of the oil tank 28 is supplied, via a pipe 33, to an open tank 32 of the water supplying pump unit 14 through operation of the valve mechanism 30. The open tank 32 is so named because it is open to the atmospheric air, and it accumulates or stores therein the working medium, leaked or discharged out of the circulation circuitry, in the liquid-phase state.

The open tank 32 of the water supplying pump unit 14 and the condenser 13 are interconnected by a pipe 35 via a water supplying return pump 37 and check valve 34. The water of the open tank 32 may be supplied to the pipe 16 through a pipe 35 a.

The condenser 13 includes a liquid level sensor 38 and air vent 39 provided near the liquid level position. Water supply from the open tank 32 to the condenser 13 is performed by the water supplying return pump 37 that is driven by a motor 36 turned on/off in response to a signal from the liquid level sensor 38. Further, the open tank 32 and the condenser 13 are inter-connected by a pipe 40 that discharges the water via the air vent 39.

The pipe 17 for returning the condensed water discharged from the condenser 13 is connected to a water coalescer 42 within a sealed tank 41 of the pump unit 14. Water in the sealed tank 41 is supplied, by the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 driven by a motor 43, to the evaporator 11 via the pipe 18.

Further, in association with the condenser 13, there are provided a plurality of cooling fans 46-48 for generating cooling air independently for different portions of the condenser 13.

In the above-described arrangements, a working medium supply device is constituted by elements pertaining to the liquid level position within the condenser 13 and lower section of the condenser 13 and by the water supplying pump unit 14.

In a closed working medium circulation system of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, a working medium leaked from the breather 23 of the expander 12 is returned via an outlet port P2 to the pipe 16 of the circulation system.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example specific structure of the water supplying pump unit 14.

The water supplying pump unit 14 comprises the water coalescer 42, sealed tank 41, high-pressure water supplying pump 44 driven by the drive motor 43, open tank 32, return pump 37, and check valve 34.

Although a rotation shaft 49 of the drive motor 43 is shown in the figure as being parallel to the surface of the sheet of the drawing, this is just for convenience of illustration; in practice, the rotation shaft 49 is disposed perpendicularly to the sheet of the drawing. The rotation shaft 49 of the drive motor 43 is held in engagement with a cam mechanism 49 a, so as to function as a cam shaft.

The water coalescer 42 separates oil and water, and the sealed tank 41 directly collects leaked water from the high-pressure water supplying pump 44. The high-pressure water supplying pump 44 supplies a required amount of water by performing water amount control based on the number of pump rotations.

The open tank 32 is provided for temporarily storing water leaked out of the circulation circuitry. The return pump 37 returns the leaked water to the sealed tank 41 or to a supercooler of the condenser 13. Namely, the return pump 37 returns the leaked water from the open tank 32 to the closed tank 41 through a pipe 152 equipped with a check valve 151, or delivers the water to the supercooler of the condenser 13 through the pipe 35 equipped with the check valve 34 as necessary. The check valve 151 of the pipe 152 prevents a reverse flow of the water from the sealed tank 41, and the check valve 34 of the pipe 35 prevents a reverse flow of the water from the supercooler of the condenser 13.

Water discharged from the outlet port 13 a (see FIG. 1) of the condenser 13 is passed through the water coalescer 42 via the pipe 17 so that the water is separated from oil and only the water is fed to the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 driven by the drive motor 43. The high-pressure water supplying pump 44 delivers the water to the evaporator 11 via the pipe 18. Leaked water is returned via the pipe 40 to the open tank 32.

The following paragraphs describe arrangements, provided in the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, for supplying the working medium while appropriately dealing with leakage of the working medium (i.e., leakage-handling working medium supply system).

In the circulation circuitry through which the working medium is circulated, the working medium, leaked or discharged out of the circuitry at several places of the circuitry, is collected into a collection mechanism comprising the oil coalescer 27, oil tank 28, valve mechanism 30, pipes 33 and 40, etc. and then temporarily stored in the open tank 32.

The water (liquid-phase working medium) stored in the open tank 32 is preferably returned automatically to any desired point of a section (i.e., section having an inner pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure) of the circulation circuitry which extends from a vapor outlet port 53 of the expander 12, via the condenser 13, to an inlet portion of the high-pressure water supplying pump 44.

More specifically, the returning or re-delivering, to the circulation circuitry, of the water temporarily stored in the open tank 32 is carried out by returning the water to the supercooler of the condenser 13 via the return pump 37 and pipe 35 as noted above, or by returning the water to the pipe 16, through the pipe 35 a extending from the pipe 35, using the return pump 37 (see FIG. 1).

In the above-described manner, the working medium leaked out of the circulation circuitry of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 is automatically returned at appropriate timing to the section of the circulation circuitry which has a pressure substantially equal to the atmospheric pressure, so that a predetermined total amount of the working medium can be constantly maintained in the circulation circuitry.

The Rankine cycle apparatus 10 has a function of accommodating or compensating for variation in the flow rate of the working medium circulating through the circulation circuitry in the liquid- or gaseous-phase state, and also a function of returning the working medium, leaked or discharged out of the circulation circuitry, to the circulation circuitry. Particularly, the condenser 13 employed in the instant embodiment includes the air vent (i.e. liquid-phase working medium discharge device) 10 for discharging the liquid-phase working medium out of the closed circuitry of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 on the basis of the liquid level position forming the gas-liquid interface and storing the discharged working medium in the open tank 32, and the return pump (i.e., liquid-phase working medium supply device) 37 for circulating the liquid-phase working medium, stored in the open tank 32, in the closed circuitry.

When the liquid level position is lower than a predetermined reference position, the water accumulated in the open tank 32 is returned to the closed circuit of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, while, when the liquid level position is higher than a predetermined reference position, the water (condensed water) within the condenser 13 is discharged to the open tank 32. In this way, the liquid level position can be kept at a predetermined level position (i.e., predetermined vertical or height position) within the condenser 13.

With the arrangements of the instant embodiment, the amount of the working medium supply to the evaporator 11 within the circulation circuitry would vary relatively greatly, but the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 follows the variation in the working medium supply amount by the second. Therefore, there is caused a considerable difference between amounts (rates) of inflow and outflow of the working medium to and from the condenser 13, so that the amount of the working medium retained within the circulation circuitry would fluctuate greatly. Thus, in order to stabilize the condensation performance of the apparatus, it is necessary to positively discharge the working medium out of the circulation circuitry and return the working medium into the circulation circuitry. In this case, the working medium returning position may be set at any desired point of the circulation circuitry section extending from the vapor outlet port 53 of the expander 12, via the condenser 13, to the inlet portion (sealed tank) of the high-pressure water supplying pump 44. However, because the circulation circuitry section is, in fact, slightly higher in pressure than the atmospheric pressure, there is a need to positively return the working medium temporarily stored in the open-to-atmospheric-air tank 32, along with the leaked working medium.

Next, specific novel structural arrangements employed in the instant embodiment will be described in greater detail.

As the first novel structural arrangement, the instant embodiment is constructed to actively (i.e., positively) and automatically return the liquid-phase working medium into the circulation system by re-supplying the liquid-phase working medium, stored in the open-to-atmospheric-air tank 32, to the condenser 12 using the single return pump 37 and liquid level sensor 38 in such a manner that the liquid level position within the condenser 13 is kept at the predetermined level position. In this case, at least one return pump is required to return the liquid-phase working medium to any point of the circulation circuitry section extending from the vapor outlet port 53 of the expander 12, via the condenser 13, to the inlet portion (sealed tank) of the high-pressure water supplying pump 44, for example, when the pressure within the condenser 13 is controlled to constantly assume a small positive pressure level. Specifically, air introduced into the circulation system is discharged out of the circulation system by the air vent 39 with the pressure within the condenser 13 set at a small positive pressure level, and the liquid-phase working medium discharged from the air vent 39 to the open tank 32 is returned, via the pipe 35 or 35 a, using the return pump 37.

In the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 arranged in the above-described manner, the liquid level position of the condensed water within the condenser 13 rises progressively when a heat load decreases rapidly and an amount of the water discharge by the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 decreases so that the amount of the outflow from the condenser 13 becomes smaller than the amount of the inflow to the condenser 13. However, once the liquid level position within the condenser 13 gets higher than the reference position predetermined on the basis of a vertical position of the air vent 39, the condensed water is discharged, through the air vent 39, out of the circulation system in the water-phase state, and the thus-discharged water is temporarily stored in the open-to-atmospheric-air tank 32 so that variation in the flow amount of the working medium can be accommodated effectively.

Conversely, the liquid level position of the condensed water within the condenser 13 falls progressively when the heat load increases rapidly and the amount of the outflow from the condenser 13 becomes smaller than the amount of the inflow to the condenser 13. However, via the motor 36 and return pump 37 operating in accordance with detection signals from the liquid level sensor 38, the temporarily-stored water is returned from the open tank 32 to the super cooler, etc. within the condenser 13 to compensate for the fall of the liquid level position. In this way, variation in the flow amount of the working medium can be accommodated effectively.

The detection signals from the liquid level sensor 38 are given to the return pump 37 as signals for activating and deactivating the return pump 37. The working medium leaked out of the expander 12 is collected, by way of the collection mechanism, into the open tank 32 and then returned into the circulation system via the return pump 37.

As the second novel structural arrangements, the instant embodiment is constructed to set the (inner) pressure within the condenser 13 at a small negative pressure level only when the working medium is to be returned to the circulation system. Thus, the water temporarily stored in the open tank 32, located outside the circulation system, can be returned passively to any point of the circulation circuitry section extending from the vapor outlet port 53 of the expander 12, via the condenser 13, to the inlet portion (sealed tank) of the high-pressure water supplying pump 44. In this case, the return pump 37 can be dispensed with.

The water supplying pump unit 14, i.e. specific arrangement for supplying the working medium while dealing with leakage (leakage-handling working medium supply system), is shown in FIG. 2 as returning, by means of the return pump 37, to a header tank underneath the super cooler or to the pipe 16 via the pipe 35 or 35 a, and directly to the sealed tank 41 via the pipe 152. The water supplying pump unit 14 has the following features in terms of its actual design.

(1) To reduce the size of the water supplying pump unit 14, the open tank 32 is disposed around the sealed tank 41.

(2) Liquid level of the open tank 32 is controlled to have a small head difference from that of the condenser 13.

(3) To reduce the size of the return pump 37, it is desirable that the length of the piping be minimized and the head difference between the liquid level of the condenser 13 and the liquid level of the open tank 32 be minimized. Therefore, it is also conceivable to provide the sealed tank 41 above the open tank 32.

(4) The water coalescer 42 for separating an oil component, mixed into the water, from the water on the basis of a difference in specific gravity is incorporated in the sealed tank 41.

(5) Further, the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 is incorporated in the sealed tank 41 so as to maximize its self-suctioning capability and attenuate sound generated therefrom.

(6) The return pump 37 has various additional functions, such as a function which, in an emergency where the evaporator 11 has become unusually or unexpectedly hot or there has occurred an excessive decrease in the amount of water supply to the evaporator 11, for example, due to a trouble with the high-pressure water supplying pump 44, coupling, via a circuit switching valve, the discharge side of the return pump 37 to the main circuit in place of the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 and thereby restraining the temperature of the evaporator 11 within a permissible range for protection of the evaporator 11, and a function of, even in the above-mentioned emergency, keeping the entire system in good condition by allowing the Rankine cycle apparatus to continue operating temporarily and thereby gradually stop its operation so that sudden stoppage of the apparatus can be avoided.

The following paragraphs describe the Rankin cycle apparatus 10 when mounted on the vehicle, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 201 indicates a front body of the vehicle, and 202 a front road wheel. Engine room 203 is formed within the front body 201, and the engine 50 is mounted in the engine room 203. The exhaust manifold 51 is provided on a rear surface of the engine 50, and the above-mentioned exhaust pipe 45 is connected to the exhaust manifold 51.

The evaporator 11 is mounted on a portion of the exhaust pipe 45 near the exhaust manifold 51. The pipe 18 extending from the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 is coupled to the evaporator 11, and the pipe 18 supplies water to the evaporator 11 using, as its heat source, the heat of exhaust gas from the high-pressure water supplying pump 44. The evaporator 11 phase-converts the water into water vapor using the heat of the exhaust gas and supplies the converted vapor to the expander 12 via the pipe 15 connected to a vapor inlet port 52 of the expander 12. The expander 12 converts expansion energy of the water vapor into mechanical energy.

The expander 12 has a vapor outlet port 53 connected to the pipe 16, and the condenser 13 for cooling/condensing water vapor into water is disposed between the pipe 16 and the sealed tank 41 leading to an inlet side of the high-pressure water supplying pump 44. The condenser 13 is located in a front area of the engine room 203. In FIG. 3, there is also shown a layout of the open tank 32, water coalescer 42, return pump 37, oil coalescer 27, super cooler 54 (liquid-phase portion of the condenser 13), air vent 39, check valve 34, etc. As note above, the high-pressure water supplying pump 44, evaporator 11, expander 12, condenser 13, etc. together constitute the Rankine cycle apparatus for converting heat energy into mechanical energy.

In FIG. 4, there is shown the above-described second novel structural arrangements of the present invention, where a circuit switching valve 210 is provided behind the check valve 34 and connected to the pipe 18 via a pipe 211. When the evaporator 11 has become unexpectedly hot or there has occurred an excessive decrease in the amount of water supply to the evaporator 11, for example, due to a trouble with the high-pressure water supplying pump 44, the circuit switching valve 210 is shifted to the side of the water supplying pump 44, and also the discharge side of the return pump 37 is shifted to the side of the main circuit. Thus, the evaporator 11 can be protected from instantaneous, unusual excessive heat, and also the Rankine cycle apparatus is allowed to temporarily continue operating and thereby gradually stop its operation. In this way, the Rankine cycle apparatus can be prevented from suddenly stopping its operation, so that the entire system can be reliably kept in good condition.

Behavior of the Rankine cycle apparatus is explained below in the order that corresponds to flows of water and water vapor within the Rankine cycle apparatus.

Water cooled and condensed in the condenser 13 is supplied, in a pressurized condition, by the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 to the evaporator 11 via the pipe 18.

The water, which is a liquid-phase working medium, is heated by the evaporator 11 imparting the water with heat energy until it becomes high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor, and the resultant high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor is supplied to the expander 12. The expander 12 converts the heat energy into mechanical energy through expanding action of the high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor, and the mechanical energy is supplied to the motor/generator 19 annexed to the expander 12.

The water vapor let out from the expander 12 assumes a lowered temperature and pressure, which is then delivered to the condenser 13. The water vapor of lowered temperature and pressure delivered to the condenser 13 is again cooled and condensed in the condenser 13, and the resultant condensed water is supplied via the water coalescer 42 to the high-pressure water supplying pump 44. After that, the water, which is a liquid-phase working medium, repeats the above circulation, so that the expander 12 continues to be supplied with water vapor of high temperature and pressure.

Next, a description will be made about control of the liquid level position of water accumulated in the condenser 13 of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, with reference to FIGS. 5-13.

FIG. 5 shows the system of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 with a central focus on the condenser 13, which particularly shows a front view of the condenser 13 as taken from before the vehicle; more specifically, states of the working medium (water or condensed water W1 and water vapor W2) within the condenser 13 are illustrated. FIG. 6 is a side view of the cooling device condenser 13, which shows positional relationship among cooling fans 46, 47 and 48 provided for the condenser 13 as well as inner states of the condenser 13.

The condenser 13 includes a vapor introducing chamber 13A in its upper end portion, a water collecting chamber 13B in its lower end portion, and an intermediate chamber 56. A plurality of cooling pipes 55 are provided between the vapor introducing chamber 13A and the intermediate chamber 56 and between the intermediate chamber 56 and the water collecting chamber 13B, and these three chambers 13A, 13B and 56 are in fluid communication with each other. Cooling fins 55 a are provided on the outer periphery of the cooling pipes 55.

The vapor introducing chamber 13A of the condenser 13 is connected via the pipe 16 to the vapor outlet port 53 of the expander 12, and the water collecting chamber 13B is connected via the pipe 17 to the water supplying pump unit 14. As noted earlier, the expander 12 is connected via the pipe 15 to the evaporator 11, and the water supplying pump unit 14 is connected via the pipe 18 to the evaporator 11.

The evaporator 11 receives heat 50A from the exhaust gas of the engine (heat source) 50 via the exhaust pipe 45 (see FIG. 1). Within the water supplying pump unit 14, there are included various components, such as the sealed tank 41, water coalescer 42, high-pressure water supplying pump 44, drive motor 43, open tank 32, return pump 37 and motor 36.

In the condenser 13, water vapor W2 is cooled and condensed to turn to water (condensed water) W1 and accumulated in a lower inner portion of the condenser 13. Horizontal line drawn in the figure within the intermediate chamber 56 represents a liquid level 65 (corresponding to the liquid level position P1 of FIG. 1) that indicates a liquid level position of the water W1 accumulated in the condenser 13.

The liquid level sensor 38 and intermediate discharge port 59 are provided at a position corresponding to the position of the liquid level 65. The liquid level sensor 38 outputs a detection signal, representative of the liquid level position detected thereby, to a control device 60. The control device 60 generates a motor control instruction signal on the basis of the liquid level position detection signal from the sensor 38 and sends the motor control instruction signal to the motor 36 of the return pump 37.

The air vent 39 for water vapor is coupled to the intermediate discharge port 59, and it has an output end communicating with the open tank 32 via the pipe 40 equipped with a check valve 58. Exhaust pump 57 is annexed to the pipe 40 in parallel relation thereto.

Further, as seen in FIG. 6, the cooling fan 46 is disposed adjacent the rear surface (right side surface in the figure) of the condenser 13 in corresponding relation to a gaseous-phase portion or vapor condensing portion 70 of the condenser 13 where the vapor W2 is accumulated, and the cooling fans 47 and 48 are disposed adjacent the rear surface of the condenser 13 in corresponding relation to a liquid-phase portion or condensed water cooling portion 71 of the condenser where the water W1 is accumulated.

The cooling operation by the cooling fan 46 is controlled by a pressure control device 62 on the basis of a vapor pressure detection signal output by a pressure sensor 61 mounted, for example, on the pipe 16 through which the vapor W2 flows. Namely, the cooling fan 46 is a vapor-condensing cooling fan to be used for vapor pressure adjustment. Further, the cooling operations by the cooling fans 47 and 48 are controlled by a temperature control device 64 on the basis of a water temperature detection signal output by a temperature sensor 63 mounted, for example, on the pipe 17 through which the water W1 flows. Namely, the cooling fans 47 and 48 are water-cooling fans to be used for cooling of the condensed water.

In FIG. 6, A1 indicates a flow of cooling air applied from before the gaseous-phase portion 70 of the condenser 13 on the basis of the rotation of the cooling fan 46, while A2 indicates a flow of cooling air applied from before the liquid-phase portion 71 of the condenser 13 on the basis of the rotation of the cooling fans 47 and 48.

As apparent from the foregoing, the gaseous-phase portion or vapor condensing portion 70 and the liquid-phase portion or condensed water cooling portion 71 in the condenser 13 are cooled independently of each other. Reference numeral 72 represents shrouds that zone or define the individual cooling regions.

Details about pressure control for the gaseous-phase portion and temperature control for the liquid-phase portion will be discussed later.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the water vapor discharged from the vapor outlet port 53 of the expander 12 is substantially equivalent in pressure to the atmospheric pressure. In the intermediate chamber 56 into which the respective outlets of the upper cooling pipes (condensing pipes) 55 open, water is discharged via the air vent 39 in order to adjust the liquid level 65 to lie within the intermediate chamber 56. Further, the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 functions, as a water supplying pump of a main circulation circuit in the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, to supply a necessary amount of water to the evaporator 11.

The reserving open tank 32, which is open to the atmosphere, retains reserve water for the sealed circulation circuitry in the system. The return pump 37 supplies water into the condenser 13 in response to the detection signal from the liquid level sensor 38. The exhaust pump 57 sucks in air from the downstream end of the air vent 39 when the condenser 13 is to be operated at a negative pressure.

The above-mentioned exhaust pump 57 may be constructed to operate in response to detection of a negative pressure by the pressure sensor 61 and pressure control device 62 shown in FIG. 5, or by the control device 60 detecting via the liquid level sensor 38 when the position of the liquid level 65 rises above a predetermined upper limit.

The check valve 58 prevents a reverse flow of the atmospheric air when the interior pressure of the condenser 13 turns to a negative pressure, and the check valve 34 prevents a reverse flow of water from the condenser 13 to the return pump 37. The air vent 39 is constructed to allow water and air to pass therethrough, but prevent water vapor from passing therethrough. The intermediate discharge port 59 functions to limit variation in the position of the liquid level 65 of the condensed water, through emission of non-condensing gas or overflow of the water, so that the liquid level position varies only within a predetermined vertical range.

The liquid sensor 38 outputs a position detection signal, representative of an actual current position of the liquid level 65, to the control device 60, and the control device 60 controls the return pump 37 so that the position of the liquid level 65 constantly lies within the intermediate chamber 56. More specifically, the position of the liquid level 65 is controlled to lie within a predetermined vertical range between the air vent 39 and the liquid level sensor 38. The liquid level sensor 38 may be, for example, in the form of a capacitance-type level sensor or float-type level switch.

In FIG. 6, the pressure sensor 61 detects an interior pressure of the condenser 13; basically, it detects a pressure of the water vapor W2. The pressure control device 62 operates the cooling fan 46 in such a manner that the interior pressure of the condenser 13 equals a predetermined pressure setting. The temperature sensor 63 detects a current temperature of the condensed water W1. The temperature control device 64 operates the cooling fans 47 and 48 in such a manner that the condensed water temperature equals a predetermined temperature setting.

Next, construction and behavior of the air vent 39 employed in the instant embodiment will be detailed with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the air vent 39 and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the air vent 39 taken along the A—A lines of FIG. 7, both of which show the air vent 39 in a closed position. FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the air vent 39 in an opened position. In these figures, the left side of the air vent 39 is a side communicating with the condenser 13 (i.e., “condenser side”), while the right side of the air vent 39 is a side communicating with the atmosphere (i.e., “atmosphere side”). The air vent 39 is hermetically sealed when its interior is filled with saturated vapor (FIG. 7), automatically opened when water or non-condensing gas is present in the interior, and again hermetically sealed by discharging the water or non-condensing gas (FIG. 9).

In FIG. 7, the air vent 39 includes a valve 66 located generally centrally therein, a valve support 67 supporting the valve 66, and a valve port (packing) 68.

The valve 66 supported by the valve support 67 is positioned to close up the valve port 68 when necessary. The valve 66 comprises a pair of opposed diaphragms 66 a combined to form a hermetically-sealed space therebetween, and temperature-sensitive liquid 69 is held in the sealed space. The temperature-sensitive liquid 69 has characteristics such that, like water, it is kept in the liquid phase under less than a predetermined pressure or temperature but expands as a gas once the temperature exceeds a predetermined level.

FIG. 10 shows respective saturation curves C1 and C2 of the temperature-sensitive liquid 69 and water. The temperature at which the temperature-sensitive liquid 69 turns to the gaseous state is lower by ΔT (about 10° C.) than the temperature at which water turns to water vapor. Thus, when the interior of the air vent 39 is filled with the water vapor W2, the temperature-sensitive liquid 69 is kept in the gaseous state, so that the sealed space containing the expanded temperature-sensitive liquid 69 presses the opposed diaphragms 66 a outwardly away from each other so as to close up a gap between the valve port 68 and the valve 66 comprised of the diaphragms 66 a (see FIG. 7). Conversely, when the interior of the air vent 39 is at a low temperature (e.g., when non-condensing gas A3, such as air, is present in the ambient environment around the valve 66), the temperature-sensitive liquid 69 is kept in the liquid state, the opposed diaphragms 66 a are pressed inwardly toward each other, so that air etc. is discharged through the gap between the valve 66 and the valve port 68 (see FIG. 9).

As apparent from the foregoing, the control device 60 shown in FIG. 5 is constructed to control the position of the liquid level 65 to vary only within the predetermined vertical range (variation width) in the condenser 13 that cools the water vapor W2 via the cooling fan 46 to convert the vapor W2 back to the water (condensed water) W1. When the detection signal output from the liquid level sensor 38, which detects a current position of the liquid level 65 that corresponds to the boundary between the gaseous-phase portion 70 and the liquid-phase portion 71 (see FIG. 5) in the condenser 13, indicates that the position of the liquid level 65 is lower than the lower limit of the predetermined range, the control device 60 controls the motor 36 of the return pump 37 that supplies water into the condenser 13, to thereby re-supply or replenish a deficient amount of water from the open tank 32 via the pipe 35 to the condenser 13.

Further, when the position of the liquid level 65 is higher than the upper limit of the predetermined range, the control device 60 discharges an excessive water to the open tank 32 via the intermediate discharge port 59, air vent 39, etc. In this way, a desirable range of the position of the liquid level 65 can be set in accordance with the range determined by the lower limit based on the detection by the liquid level sensor 38 and the upper limit based on the operation of the air vent 39.

The intermediate discharge port 59 for discharging the water (condensed water) W1 is provided in the intermediate chamber 56 of the condenser 13, in order to control the position of the liquid level 65. When the liquid level 65 is higher than the intermediate discharge port 59, the intermediate discharge port 59 causes the water to flow out therethrough to the reserving open tank 32 so that the liquid level 65 can be lowered. When the liquid level 65 is lower than the intermediate discharge port 59, the air vent 39 coupled to the intermediate discharge port 59 prevents the vapor from escaping via the water outlet 59.

As seen in FIGS. 7-9, the air vent 39 for preventing the vapor from escaping via the intermediate discharge port 59 automatically closes the valve when vapor is present in its interior, but automatically opens the valve when air (non-condensing gas) or water is present.

Further, as seen in FIG. 5, the liquid level sensor 38 is provided at a position lower than the intermediate discharge port 59, and, when the position of the liquid level 65 has lowered below the liquid level sensor 38, a deficient amount of water is re-supplied or replenished from the open tank 32 by means of the return pump 37, so as to raise the liquid level 65 to the position of the liquid level sensor 38.

As set forth above, the position of the liquid level 65 is constantly kept within the vertical range between the intermediate discharge port 59 and the liquid level sensor 38. If the interval is distance between the intermediate discharge port 59 and the liquid level sensor 38 is increased, an error in heat transmission area between the vapor portion W2 and the water (condensed water) portion W1 will become greater. Conversely, if the interval between the intermediate discharge port 59 and the liquid level sensor 38 is decreased, the return pump 37 and air vent 39 have to operate very often. Therefore, it is preferable that the interval between the intermediate discharge port 59 and the liquid level sensor 38 be set within a moderate range such that both of the above two adverse influences or inconveniences can be lessened to an appropriate degree. Further, in order to keep constant the heat transmission areas, it is desirable that the interval between the intermediate discharge port 59 and the liquid level sensor 38 be as small as possible or zero.

FIG. 11A shows positional relationship among the liquid level sensor 38, the air vent 39 and the liquid level 65 in the Rankine cycle apparatus, and FIG. 11B shows relationship among the liquid level 65 and operational states of the air vent 39 and return pump 37.

In FIG. 11A, H_(A), H_(B) and H_(L) represent the upper-limit position of the liquid level, lower-limit liquid level and position of the liquid level 65, respectively. When the actual position H_(L) of the liquid level 65 is higher than the upper-limit position H_(A), the air vent 39 is set in its opened position, and the return pump 37 (see FIG. 4) is set in its OFF state. When the position H_(L) of the liquid level 65 is between the upper-limit and lower-limit positions H_(A) and H_(B) of the liquid level, the air vent 39 is set in its closed position, and the return pump 37 (see FIG. 4) is set in its OFF state. When the position H_(L) of the liquid level 65 is lower than the lower-limit positions H_(B), the air vent 39 is set in its closed position, and the return pump 37 (see FIG. 4) is set in its ON state. In this way, variation in the liquid level 65 can be reliably confined within the range between the upper-limit and lower-limit positions H_(A) and H_(B).

Also, even when the inflow amount (mass flow rate) of water vapor or the amount of water discharge (mass flow rate) to the high-pressure water supplying pump 44 varies at the time of activation/deactivation or transient variation of the Rankine cycle apparatus 10, the described arrangements of the instant embodiment can effectively restrict or control variation of the position of the liquid level 65 within the condenser 13 and thereby permits stable operation of the condenser 13.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 includes the reserving open tank 32 open to the atmosphere and provided separately from the main circulation circuit. This open tank 32 is connected to the condenser 13, via the air vent 39 coupled to the intermediate discharge port 59 and the check valve 58. Lower portion of the open tank 32 is connected to the outlet port 13 a of the condenser 13 via the return pump 37, pipe 35 and check valve 34.

When the liquid level 65 is higher in position than the intermediate discharge port 59, the water overflows out of the condenser 13 to be directed into the open tank 32, while, when the liquid level 65 is lower in position than the liquid level sensor 38, the return pump 37 is activated to replenish water to the condenser 13. Because the amount of water supply by the high-pressure water supplying pump 44, located downstream of the condenser 13, is controlled in the instant embodiment, the activation of the return pump 37 causes the liquid level 65 to rise up to the position of the liquid level sensor 38 due to the water supply into the condenser 13, upon which the return pump 37 is deactivated.

Further, because the intermediate chamber 56, into which the plurality of cooling pipes (condensing pipes) 55 open, is provided in the region including the intermediate discharge port 59 and liquid sensor 38, the liquid level 65 is allowed to vary with improved response and in a stabilized manner during water discharge from the intermediate discharge port 59 or water supply from the return pump 37.

Note that the provision of the intermediate chamber 56 is not necessarily essential to the present invention if the vapor introducing chamber 13A and water collecting chamber 13B are in fluid communication with each other via the plurality of cooling pipes (condensing pipes) 55.

Operational sequence of the liquid level position control performed by the control device 60 is explained below with reference to a flow chart of the FIG. 12.

At step S10, the control device 60 reads the current position H_(L) of the liquid level 65 via the liquid level sensor 38.

At step S11, it is determined whether the liquid level position H_(L) is higher than the upper-limit position H_(A) of the liquid level, and, if so, control proceeds to step S12, where the air vent 39 is brought to its opened position to discharge the excessive water so as to lower the liquid level 65. After that, the control device 60 reverts to step S10. When the liquid level position H_(L) is lower than the upper-limit position H_(A) of the liquid level, control proceeds to step S13 in order to close the air vent 39.

At step S14, it is determined whether the liquid level position H_(L) is lower than the lower-limit position H_(B) of the liquid level, and, if so, control proceeds to step S15, where the return pump 37 is turned on for re-supply or replenishment of deficient water. Further, if the liquid level position H_(L) is higher than the lower-limit position H_(B) of the liquid level, the return pump 37 is turned off to not replenish water. After that, the control device 60 reverts to step S10.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing variation in the velocity of the vehicle having the Rankine cycle apparatus 10 mounted thereon, variation in the engine output, variation in the amount of water supply to the evaporator and variation in the liquid level position within the condenser, in contradistinction to the conventional apparatus. More specifically, section (A) of FIG. 13 shows variation in the traveling velocity of the vehicle, (B) variation in the engine output of the vehicle, (C) variation in the amount of water supply to the evaporator in the conventional apparatus, (D) variation in the liquid level position within the condenser in the conventional apparatus, and (E) variation in the liquid level position within the condenser in the embodiment of the present invention.

As the velocity of the vehicle, having the Rankine cycle apparatus mounted thereon, varies as illustrated in (A) of FIG. 13, the engine output of the vehicle varies as illustrated in (B) of FIG. 13, in response to which the amount of water supply to the evaporator varies in a manner as illustrated in (C) of FIG. 13 and also the liquid level position within the condenser varies in a manner as illustrated in (D) of FIG. 13. In other words, as the vehicle starts traveling at time points t1, t3 and t5 and stops traveling at time points t2, t4 and t6 along the time axis, the engine output varies and the amount of water supply to the evaporator also varies, so that the liquid level position within the condenser varies.

With the condenser 100 of the conventional vehicle-mounted Rankine cycle apparatus shown in FIG. 14, the amount of water supply to the evaporator 111 varies because the engine output varies as illustrated in (B) of FIG. 13 in response to the start/stop of the vehicle and transitional vehicle velocity variation as illustrated in (A) of FIG. 13, so that the liquid level position 112 in the cooling pipes 103 of the condenser 100 would vary. Namely, in the condenser 100, the liquid level position 112 rises when the inflow amount of vapor is greater than the discharge amount of condensed water, but falls when the inflow amount of vapor is smaller than the discharge amount of condensed water.

By contrast, according to the instant embodiment, the above-described liquid level position control is performed when the vehicle varies in traveling velocity as illustrated in (A) of FIG. 13, and thus, the liquid level position can be controlled to vary between the upper-limit and lower-limit positions H_(A) and H_(B) at the time of a start/stop of traveling of the vehicle. As a consequence, the instant embodiment can reliably prevent great variation or fluctuation in the liquid level position within the condenser 13.

In the present invention, as set forth above, the positional variation in the liquid level 65 of the water (condensed water) W1 accumulated in the condenser 13 is confined to the predetermined range, so that respective variation of the heat transmission areas of the gaseous-phase portion and liquid-phase portion, corresponding to vapor and condensed water, in the condenser 13 can be effectively reduced. As a consequence, the present invention can perform the necessary cooling without regard to variation in the heat transmission areas and achieve an enhanced accuracy of the control. Also, the present invention can reduce cavitations in the pump device and extra heat energy consumption during re-heating in the evaporator 11.

Further, the present invention can keep a variation width of the heat transmission areas within a permissible range and impart a hysteresis to switching between discharge and replenishment of the liquid-phase working medium, to thereby lower the frequency of the switching operation. As a result, the present invention can achieve stabilized operation of the condenser 13 and enhanced durability of devices involved in the discharge and replenishment of the liquid-phase working medium.

Moreover, because the present invention can appropriately control the liquid level by discharging the liquid-phase working medium (water) from within the condenser 13 while preventing discharge of the gaseous-phase working medium (vapor), it can achieve even further stabilized operation of the condenser 13.

Furthermore, the present invention can replenish the liquid-phase working medium directly up to the set liquid level from the reserving open tank, accumulating the liquid-phase working medium, via the return pump, so that the liquid level position can be appropriately adjusted and accurately stabilized promptly through high-response and high-precision supply amount control of the pump.

In addition, the present invention can perform the liquid level position control while keeping the necessary total mass flow rate of the working medium in the circulation circuitry, and thus, the circulation circuitry need not be equipped with particular devices indented for working medium discharge and replenishment to and from the outside.

Furthermore, the present invention can reduce differences in the liquid level position among the cooling pipes of the condenser and thereby accurately stabilize the liquid level promptly during the discharge and replenishment of the liquid-phase working medium, as a result of which the present invention can achieve even further stabilized operation of the condenser 13.

As having been set forth so far, the Rankine cycle apparatus of the present invention collects the working medium leaked out of the circulation system, stores the collected working medium in the open tank and returns the stored working medium to the circulation system. Thus, the present invention achieves the superior benefit of allowing the liquid-phase working medium to be returned to the circulation system in an optimal manner.

Obviously, various minor changes and modifications of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teaching. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. 

1. A Rankine cycle apparatus including a closed working medium circulation circuit, which comprises: an evaporator for heating and thereby converting a pressurized liquid-phase working medium into a gaseous-phase working medium; an expander for converting heat energy of the gaseous-phase working medium into mechanical energy; a condenser for cooling and thereby converting the gaseous-phase working medium, discharged from an outlet port of said expander, back to the liquid phase; a sealed tank for storing the liquid-phase working medium discharged by said condenser; a supply pump for supplying the liquid-phase working medium, in a re-pressurized condition, from said sealed tank to said evaporator; collection means for collecting a portion of the working medium having exited out of the working medium circulation circuit; an open tank for storing the portion of the working medium supplied from said collection means; and liquid-phase working medium returning means for returning the liquid-phase working medium, stored in said open tank, to any point of a section of the working medium circulation circuit which extends from the outlet portion of said expander, via said condenser, to a suction port of said supply pump.
 2. A Rankine cycle apparatus as claimed in claim 1 which further comprises liquid-phase working medium discharge means attached to said condenser and controlled to allow a liquid level position of the liquid-phase working medium within said condenser to be kept at a predetermined level position, and wherein, in accordance with variation in the liquid level position within said condenser, said liquid-phase working medium discharge means discharges the liquid-phase working medium out of the working medium circulation circuit so that the discharged liquid-phase working medium is given to said collection means.
 3. A Rankine cycle apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein, when the liquid level position is below the predetermined level position, the liquid-phase working medium stored in said open tank is returned to the working medium circulation circuit, so as to bring the liquid level position within said condenser to the predetermined level position.
 4. A Rankine cycle apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein, when the liquid level position is above the predetermined level position, the liquid-phase working medium within said condenser is discharged from said condenser by said liquid-phase working medium discharge means so that the discharged working medium is supplied to said open tank via said collection means, so as to bring the liquid level position within said condenser to the predetermined level position. 